middle class while letting tax rates go up for upper-income americans. the white house says the family in virginia responded to the president's my2can campaign. >>> the standoff over the fiscal cliff is putting jobs here in california and alison burns has more on this. >> reporter: and secretary panetta has warned the fiscal cliff would hurt our national defense. he's expected to hold a news conference any minute now. he's getting the order from the white house to brace for massive budget cut us. now, the automatic spending cuts that would kick in if congress does not reach an agreement on the fiscal cliff would force the pentagon to slice about 10% of the budget. the defense industry projects one in five defense contracts in california would be lost. the aerospace industry is projecting that 135,000 department jobs would be cut along with 90,000 jobs for a total of about 225,000 jobs lost in california over the next few years. alison burns, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> 8:16. well, today will mark the 9 oth annual lighting of the national christmas tree. pre